Annie's Staff Pick

Loveless

Director:Andrey Zvyagintsev

127 Mins / 2017 / Russia / Subtitles

The pristine and merciless new film from Zvyagintsev (Leviathan) begins out in the cold, and its temperature just keeps on dropping. A couple are going through a vicious divorce marked by resentment and recriminations. Already embarking on new lives, each with a new partner, they are impatient to start again, even if it means threatening to abandon their 12-year-old son Alyosha. Until, after witnessing one of their fights, Alyosha disappears. This film’s brilliance and passion is completely riveting.

“Alyosha’s disappearance speaks about the couple’s irresponsibility as parents as much as the cruelty, and uncertainty, of the larger society they live in.” – Brighton CINECITY Film Festival 2017